About 60 people showed up Thursday night to tell the Interior Gas Utility’s board of directors what they think about the IGU’s proposed $331 million deal to launch and operate a public natural-gas utility. Those who spoke expressed a range of opinions that gave board members a lot to think about as they prepare for a critical vote on the deal Tuesday.

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It’s been nearly four years since the state authorized the IGU to build a system to bring natural gas to the Fairbanks area. And on Tuesday, IGU board members will consider taking a huge step toward that goal, when they vote on a $331 million deal to buy and build the facilities needed to bring natural gas here, then store it and distribute it to homes and businesses throughout the area.

Chairman Mike Meeks and other members of the IGU board and General Manager Jomo Stewart occupied the dais during Thursday's meeting in the borough Assembly chambers.

Credit Tim Ellis/KUAC

Board Chair Mike Meeks says utility officials have held two public outreach meetings over the past 10 days and other sessions to help explain the complex deal.

“We’ve been spending the last few weeks hitting North Pole, hitting Fairbanks, and providing the public with information,” he said. “And we’ve had about five-and-a-half hours of questions and answers and information going to the public.”

Meeks said Thursday’s work session was dedicated to giving the people their turn to talk: “Tonight, we listen to the public.”

The public included local clean-air advocate Jimmy Fox, who sat in on both of the most recent meetings.

“I came into those meetings skeptical,” Fox told board members, “and I have to say after many, many hours of following up with what I heard, having further conversations, I’m feeling much, much more confident about the proposal before you.”

But Sarah Obed says the IGU’s estimates on the number of people who’ll convert their home-heating systems to natural gas are too optimistic, because the utility won’t be able to keep the price of gas low enough to compete with fuel oil or wood. And that in turn won’t convince people to spend money to convert to gas heat.

“Who’s going to spend ten thousand dollars to convert,” she said, “and then pay more for gas after they’ve already converted?”

Obed is vice president for external affairs for Doyon, and she says buying FNG and Titan’s assets would be a costly mistake. She says the IGU should instead invest in a local gas supply that comes in a pipe instead of a tanker, like what Doyon is trying to develop with exploratory drilling in the Nenana basin.

“They basically will be investing in all this LNG infrastructure, which you wouldn’t need if you piped gas to Fairbanks,” she said.

Others, like Clark Milne, urged the board to approve the deal, because it’s an essential part of the borough’s plan to improve air quality by reducing use of heating systems that burn wood or coal.

'... We can get people to convert (to heating with natural gas), instead of burning wood. And that can make all the difference.'– Clark Milne

“Natural gas can make a lot less PM2.5,” Milne said. “Therefore, we can get people to convert (to heating with natural gas), instead of burning wood. And that can make all the difference.”

Liz Greig told the board that if the IGU succeeds in convincing many or most Fairbanks-area property owners to convert to natural gas, it will increase the cost of housing for those who rent. She says that will make it even more difficult for people who live at or below the poverty level.

“Property owners are going to have to pass along these costs to the renters,” she said.

Meeks, the board chair, says members of the public will get one more chance to comment on the proposal next Tuesday – just before the board votes. That meeting also will be held in the Assembly chambers, beginning at 6 p.m.

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The Interior Gas Utility’s general manager and board chairman held the first of two sessions Tuesday intended to help the public understand the IGU’s $59.5 million proposal to buy Pentex Alaska LNG Co., the parent company of Fairbanks Natural Gas and its LNG-processing and storage facilities in Southcentral. The IGU board is scheduled to vote on the deal on Dec. 5.

The Interior Gas Utility has scheduled a couple of public meetings for later this month to inform Fairbanks North Star Borough residents about the status of the IGU board’s proposal to buy Pentex Alaska Natural Gas Company as part of the local utility’s efforts to build a natural-gas distribution system for Fairbanks and North Pole.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough’s Interior Gas Utility is considering taking control of the state backed Interior Energy Project. Its aimed at increasing the supply of natural gas in the Fairbanks area, and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority has shepherded the effort to a point where it’s ready for transfer to the local non-profit utility. As KUAC’s Dan Bross reports, the IGU is weighing risks and benefits as it looks at taking on the project.

Three candidates seeking election to an open seat on the Interior Gas Utility board all agree it’s taken far too long to bring natural gas into the Fairbanks area. All three say if elected they’d push to accelerate the IGU’s efforts to bring gas here and build a system to deliver gas to its customers.

The fate of the long pursued Interior Energy Project will soon come into better focus. The state funded effort hinges on a natural gas supply from Cook Inlet, and as KUAC’s Dan Bross reports, that’s expected next month.

Four public buildings around Fairbanks will offer more electrical outlets in their parking lots next year to encourage customers to plug-in their engine-block heaters during cold snaps. The project is intended to help improve the area’s air quality.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly last week delayed consideration of technology that could reduce emissions from wood heating. An ordinance sponsored by Assembly member Lance Roberts would include installation of electrostatic precipitators as part of the borough’s wood-stove changeout program. The stack-mounted devices use static electricity to remove health-damaging fine particulates from smoke.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough toughened its air regulations in advance of this spring’s EPA re-designation of much of the borough as a serious non-attainment area for fine-particulate pollution. As KUAC’s Robert Hannon reports, the borough issued more than 170 air quality violation letters, but only one citation followed.

Fairbanks North Star Borough residents are going to have to find ways to burn less and cleaner to bring the community into compliance with federal air quality regulations. That’s the message from Environmental Protection Agency representatives in town this week to discuss chronic wintertime fine particulate pollution in some Fairbanks and North Pole neighborhoods. KUAC’s Dan Bross reports.

Doyon has announced plans to drill another oil and gas exploration well in the Nenana area. It will be the third the company has sunk into the oil and gas rich basin. As KUAC’s Dan Bross reports, the Interior Regional Native Corporation is looking for a commercially develop able deposit to supply local and broader energy demand.

State lead Interior Energy Project efforts to get natural gas to Fairbanks would slow down if recent legislative actions hold. As KUAC’s Dan Bross reports, the project has re-focused from North Slope to Cook Inlet gas in recent months, and state legislators are tweaking earlier approved bills funding the effort.

As energy prices continue to rise, Alaskan engineers and builders are pushing the envelope in the quest to build ever-more energy-efficient housing. Some of those innovations are making their way into residential construction, as builders look to meet homebuyers' demand.

The Ninth Rural Energy Conference gets under way Tuesday here in Fairbanks. The three-day gathering of experts and advocates will examine how Alaska’s rural residents get electricity, and how they might get it in the future more efficiently – and less expensively.